Pipe joints have been known for a long time in order to form, in particular, a longer pipeline, for example a water supply line or any other desired supply line, from individual pipes.
In order to protect the pipeline from an undesirable escape of the flow medium to be transported in it and to prevent ingress of a medium possibly located outside the pipeline into the pipeline, it is known to attach seals in the overlap region of the respective pipes for closing the gap formed between the pipes. These seals extend, for example, as sealing rings along the circumference of one of the pipes and are inserted into a groove of this pipe. In this way, the escape of the flow medium or the ingress of a medium located outside the pipeline is at least made more difficult.
A disadvantage in this case is that, although certain sealing of the pipeline is achieved in this way, the connecting points between the pipes are not very stable, since there is play between the pipes on account of the gap inevitably located between the pipes. Thus, for example, an unintentional movement of such a laid pipeline may lead, in the region of the connecting points, to at least partial loosening of the joint and therefore to damage to the pipeline, so that the latter at least becomes leaky. This situation occurs very frequently during building measures which are carried out in the vicinity of such a pipeline.
In addition, in order to increase the stability of a pipeline in the region of the connecting points between the pipes, it is known to connect the pipes by means of mechanical couplings (e.g. “locking keys”) or flanged or laminated joints. As a result, a certain frictional connection is achieved between the pipes in the overlap region; however, said types of connection, depending on the embodiment, are sensitive to rotation and/or movements in the longitudinal direction of the pipeline, so that damage is to be feared despite the increased stability.